No. 17: Oxfam
No. 17 on the right of this pair of shops is part of the same building as No. 18 next door, and they are jointly Grade II listed (ref. 1485/691). The present building dates from c.1897.
This shop is famous for becoming in 1948 Oxfam’s very first charity shop in this country. It also served as Oxfam’s administrative offices in the early years, but these moved to Summertown in 1962. Until 1959 the charity, (which was founded at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in 1942) was known as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief
Picture from English Heritage:
The 1851 census shows William Weston the hairdresser here living over the former shop on this site with his wife and five young children, and a house servant; the family is still there in 1861.
In 1881 the former building was occupied by Alfred Holliday, described as a jeweller employing two men and two boys) together with his wife, two sons, their 15-year-old nurse, and a general servant.
Occupants of 17 Broad Street listed in directories |
|
1846 |
James Marsh,
Bootmaker,
and |
1852–1866 |
William Weston, Hairdresser & perfumer |
1869–1916 |
Holliday, Jewellers/Opticians 1869–1884: Alfred Holliday, watchmaker & jeweller |
1919–1926 |
Marshall & Foat, Tailors |
1927–1945 |
William Marshall,
Ladies' Tailor |
Since 1949 |
Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (Oxfam) |